


Awaiting Her Next

by luculentglaciation



Category: Layton Kyouju vs Gyakuten Saiban | Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Recovery, Zine: Lawful Evil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 12:56:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15908709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luculentglaciation/pseuds/luculentglaciation
Summary: "What I have done cannot be forgiven. I can never escape from it."The words had been written by Newton Belduke, but Jean Greyerl can't help applying them to herself.





	Awaiting Her Next

**Author's Note:**

> lawful evil zine piece!!! the zine is here: https://lawfulevilzine.tumblr.com/post/177772138224/its-finally-here-the-zine-catered-to-all-your
> 
> i'm pretty proud of this piece! i hope you all enjoy it too :}

‘ _What I have done cannot be forgiven. I can never escape from it._ ’

The words had echoed in Jean Greyerl’s head too many times to count. They weren’t her words, but she’d been the one to read them out loud during the trial that had nearly spelled her end.

It had been some time since then. So much had happened during that trial, it had taken weeks to even process all of it. By then, the secret of Labyrinthia had been revealed to everyone, and Jean had been freed from prison, allowed to go home, allowed to return to her life of maintaining the late Newton Belduke’s household and studying the knowledge he’d left to her.

Yes, Master Belduke, the person who’d saved her life, raised her, instructed her, protected her, and believed in her completely. And even in the face of all his behavior, she’d allowed herself to believe he was going to betray her.

In a moment of rage, she’d tried to kill him. For months, she even thought she’d succeeded.

And then, the visitor Phoenix Wright came to Labyrinthia, and in short order exposed her as a witch, during one of the witch trials. This, of course, because she’d framed the person who was to him as Jean was to Master Belduke. And near the end of that trial, she’d read Master Belduke’s final letter out loud for the court.

‘ _What I have done cannot be forgiven. I can never escape from it._ ’

Jean didn’t know how many times she’d heard those words in her head, but on a particular night she decided she’d had enough of it.

She slipped out of bed and snatched up a candle, lighting it and taking it to the hallway with her. With a subdued shuffling, she settled into Master Belduke’s desk in his office, lighting a lamp and setting the candle down nearby. She got out a quill, and a blank sheet of parchment, and began to write.

***

_My dear Master Belduke,_

_The only sentiment I can start with is: I’m sorry._

_I’m sorry I could not solve the mystery of Labyrinthia on my own. Perhaps, if I had applied myself more fully to the question of the bell tower’s appearance, I could have discovered something that would save you._

_Far beyond that, I’m sorry that I desecrated your body out of a misguided sense of self-preservation. I doubted you, and assumed the worst of you, and that’s the most damning course I could have taken._

_Further still, I framed the stranger Maya Fey for my crimes, when she and Espella Cantabella later put their lives on the line for me in return. I could not have shifted blame onto a person less worthy of it._

_What I have done can never be forgiven. And, indeed, I can never escape from it._

_Words cannot express how much I miss you. Your confidence and guidance would have given me much more hope over these arduous months._

_I can only hope, if you’re somehow watching my life now, you can find it in yourself to forgive me._

***

Jean looked down at the completed letter. It was to her satisfaction. There wasn’t any part of her regret that wasn’t in some way reflected in what she’d written.

She picked it up in one hand, and read it over one final time.

As her eyes reached the last sentence, the corner of the parchment reached the light of the candle.

Jean silently watched as the flame consumed the parchment in her hand. It spread slowly downward, her words progressively turning to ash.

There was something else Master Belduke had said in his letter.

‘ _If the fate handed to her by this town has made her life an ordeal until now, I hope from the bottom of my heart that a wonderful story awaits her next._ ’

She flicked the final cinder of her letter into the air. “As I recall,” she said aloud, “your position would be known to the world outside Labyrinthia as a medical doctor.” She stood up, casting her eyes on the books around the room. “Then it’s time for me to get to work on becoming one, myself.”


End file.
